European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 17, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Men Are discovering Home at the Range Byton Purdum new York times Ark Engebretson earns his living As a production manager for a women s apparel company but he does some of his Best work in the Kitchen of his Greenwich Village apartment in new York. His specialities Are Home made stews and Spaghetti sauce. Henry Trevor teaches fifth Grade by Day but after 5 . His favorite subjects Are cheese Fondue and pasta with red Pepper sauce. Mike Shuster covers new York As a correspondent for National Public radio but some of his most colourful stories Center on crust less cheese pie and a Boneless Turkey breast stuffed with Pate. These three Are among a growing number of Young american men who love to Cook and do it More often than not. To be sure men have been poaching eggs and frying hash for years and until recently most of the world s great chefs have been male. Other men especially bachelors have honed their culinary skills if Only because they liked to eat and found they could do so More cheaply at Home. But Home economists cooking teachers and psychologists say that More and More men Are learning and liking to Cook. These experts say the phenomenon is part of the burgeoning american interest in food and eating. The breakdown of traditional sex roles has also made men More equal partners in the Kitchen As have changing family structures and the increase in the number of single parents. Then too More men Are staying single longer while others Are growing up As children of working mothers or divorced parents and learning to Cook at an Early age. Among my professional colleagues in their 30s and 40s, As often As not the husband Cooks As much As the wife said or. Barbara Lloyd a visiting professor of psychology at the University of Florida at Gainesville who is co author of sex and gender Cambridge University press 1985. Men who do it often do it because they see it As an adventure and a Novelty and a question of achievement and it has Long been acceptable for men to Cook professionally becoming a master chef was a vocational process Akin to becoming a master Silversmith or any other Artisan. At the same time it has also Long been acceptable for american men to Cook certain foods or meals at Home especially grilled foods whose preparation depended on charcoal and lighter fluid and sunday breakfasts. Cooking outside always seemed like a male thing to do said Caroline Kriz a Home economist based in Chicago and the author of cooking for men Only 101 productions of san Francisco 1984. It had a Nice masculine connotation of Hunting and fishing even if the men never hunted or As for helping with sunday breakfast she said once in a while was cute it was a gift to your wife. But today it s just a fact of life. Also kids might want to do this for Mother. Dad would get involved so Little ones weren t in the Kitchen indeed Engebretson who is 28 years old and started cooking for his two Brothers and sister while he was growing up in Greenwich conn., takes it for granted. His parents were divorced when he was Young and his Mother worked. As he put it whoever got Home from school first started he is now married to Lucy West an insurance broker. I m very comfortable with cooking and it s very much a part of our family routine and our lives together he said. I can t imagine life without it. It offers a release and an Engebretson is not alone in this assessment 30 percent to 40 percent of his male friends he says do at least some Trevor who does almost All the cooking at Home for himself and his Fiancee Elizabeth Werter an executive with a medical publishing company had a Kenner easy bake oven when he was six. He said that Graham Kerr television s galloping gourmet became a kind of role Model of a Man apparently enjoying cooking at Home. I would just sit there and be entertained and it was a lot of fun Trevor said referring to his Junior High school years. At Brown University he began cooking in Earnest for his roommates off Campus and for Werter and her friends who lived nearby. Tony Mayer a 25-year-old insurance broker also grew up with cooking. His father a retired Polo player and automobile dealer in Florida did almost All the cooking for the household because his Mother did not like to Cook. We always had Good food but it tended to be meat and potatoes and was t very exciting Mayer said. So i guess in High school i began cooking a bit to get them out of their rut a from left Mike Shuster Mark Engebretson and Henry Trevor have All made cooking a part of their daily routine new York times photos Home chefs flipping for com by David p. Fornell United press International the conical shape of Bourgeat s saute pan is Ideal for quickly reducing sauces n 7 Page 14 the stars and stripes Eavy duty commercial cookware has Long been touted by professional chefs As the secret to delectable dining. But the same High Price pots and pans Are now being chosen by amateurs for use in their own Home kitchens. Constructed of extra thick materials professional cookware Cooks More rapidly evenly and efficiently than its Home bound counterpart. Subjected to heavy duty battering it is so Well made it usually outlives the Cook. Commercial cookware gives you quicker even longer lasting heat and using less fire says chef Paul Prudhomme of a Paul s Louisiana Kitchen in new Orleans. The better a pot is the More you can walk away from it while sales of commercial pots and pans to Home chefs Are on the Rise according to Industry sources because residential Cooks Are realizing the few extra dollars spent will buy them equipment that lasts much longer and turns out better dishes. A few years ago a Home Cook wanting commercial cookware would have to prowl through the yellow pages looking for restaurant Supply houses. Today such manufacturers As Borgeat Ca Phalon and All Clad distribute their wares in thousands of gourmet departments and specially stores from coast to coast. Commercial cookware in the Home will last a lifetime but the real allure is its Superior cooking properties. Prudhomme who is famous for popularizing Pepper hot cajun cuisine said no matter what kind of cookware a chef uses he must make friends with his pans and know How they respond. Even the most inexperienced chef however would find it difficult to Burn the Beans using commercial cookware. A heavier commercial pot can pull you out of the fire Prudhomme said. Most cookware intended for commercial kitchens is made of heavy gauge aluminium which is second Only to pure Copper in heat transmission. Both however can cause problems for Home Cooks. Copper must be lined to prevent poisonous reactions during cooking. Bare aluminium can react with certain foods such As tomatoes causing a metallic taste. It also can Discolour food cooked with eggs. Bare aluminium also is hard to maintain because it tries to regenerate its surface through chemical reaction when cleaned. A process that electrostatically charges cookware in a Bath after fabrication fuses the surfaces sealing them with a Tough Black anodized surface harder than steel and adapting aluminium utensils for Home use. The surface is easily cleaned and will not react with acidic foods yet the heavy Metal on the inside remains As conductive As Ever. While aluminium is the most common commercial material in the United states Copper once the Darling of european chefs is rapidly being replaced by stainless steel in Continental kitchens. Stainless steel is rugged easily maintained and impervious to food reactions but is an extremely poor heat conductor. Bourgeat solves that problem by bonding an extra thick aluminium Bottom to the stainless Shell. Pierre Franey a nationally syndicated gourmet writer said he is slowly replacing his Copper cookware with stainless steel. But get the heavy gauge because it works he cautions. Franey also suggests handling a pot in the store and buying the one with the most heft. With such a wide selection available should a Home chef stick to Only one Brand not at All says teacher and chef Jacques Pepin. Buy a pot for a specific purpose he advises then evaluate All again when you buy Pepin said he uses All kinds of cookware in his classes. Because heat Transfer on a stove conies from the Bottom it is the most important Point to evaluate the Ca Phalon 14-Inch saute pan is Large by Home standards but can be used on two burners effectively. He said. Many lines of cookware fill the Market but Only a few owe their ancestry to the commercial Kitchen. Three of the most popular Are evaluated below. Borgeat the Borgeat line includes Copper lined with stainless steel anodized and Plain aluminium and heavyweight stainless steel with a thick aluminium Bottom. Imported from France it is really the Mercedes Benz of the commercial cookware Field. The company s aluminium cookware is spun into shape rather than stamped creating a denser material like pushing something in place rather than pulling it. The Borgeat stainless steel Ware is designed for professional kitchens and is overtaking Copper in popularity among european chefs. The Copper line is extra heavy and has a thin stainless steel liner to eliminate re tinning. One of Borgeat s Best items is a three quart conical saute pan spun from extremely dense aluminium and up photo beautifully anodized. The specially shaped cast handle and design of the sides make it Ideal for Quick sauteing or fast reduction of sauces. Its heavy Bottom helps to prevent scorching. Food can be sauteed professional chef style by merely shaking the pan for even cooking. If you could Only afford one pot this would be it. Ca Phalon with one of the most extensive Cata logs in the business commercial aluminium cookware is the Mack truck cookware in commercial kitchens. Its Industrial heritage shows in extremely heavy plated handles riveted to the pot with Large fasteners and extra thick sides and Bottoms designed to take the daily abuse common in professional cooking operations. A glance at the Catalon will reveal uncommon Home items such As heavy duty steamers fish poachers and thick baking pans All treated with the Anodizing process this company pioneered in the United states. Ca Phalon s Windsor sauce pan is designed to rapidly reduce sauces by concentrating heat on a smaller Bottom and having sloped sides to expose As much of the top of the sauce to the atmosphere for rapid evaporation. If you have trouble frying Chicken in a Skillet the Glt series saute pans Are the answer. The sides Are straight to prevent heat loss and fat spattering and Large handles on both sides give the Home Cook positive control on the Cooktop. The seven quart Model is 14 inches in diameter allowing you to use two burners for rapid cooking the heavy Bottom taking care of heat spread and is Large enough to allow cooking the whole Batch at once. All Clad one of the first companies to take commercial cookware into the Home All Clad offers thick aluminium shells for proper heat distribution coupled to impervious stainless steel liners for Carefree maintenance. The master chef line was once the ugly duckling of commercial cookware with its no nonsense aluminium exterior appearing much like every other professional pot strictly business. Lately the Ltd line is increasing in popularity among Home chefs by offering the stainless steel Interior thick aluminium Shell and an easy maintenance anodized exterior. For those who love to polish All Clad offers the same construction with a Copper exterior in a line called cop a chef. All lines feature cast handles with a thumb Groove for better control on the stove. All handles Are securely fastened with stainless steel rivets. While Home chefs wanting a Nice looking pot will probably Purchase the Ltd or cop a Che lines the master chef series provides a lot of pot for a lot less Money. The line is extensive and provides an Ideal selection of Basic sauce pans Fry pans and Stock pots for those building their cookware collection. Monday March 17, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 15
